AND, I just can’t get enough of these lovely buckwheat wonders. After receiving my new Bon Appetit, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw there was a whole section on buckwheat!

As I was flipping through the pages, I noticed an udon soup recipe (perfect for this horrible crap weather we are having) in which you could swap out the udon for soba noodles.Well, I made my list and ventured to the local Japanese grocery store. This trip in itself was an adventure. I don’t like to brag…but, I could probably win Supermarket Sweep since I can find ingredients quickly and, if I had to, be in-and-out in minutes. But, the language barrier proved to be an obstacle. Kombu? Tamari Soy Sauce? Sambal oelek? Luckily, the supermarket employees were very helpful and everything had translations, so you knew what you were getting yourself into.

The produce at Mitsuwa Marketplace was fresh. And, I loved how there was a sushi section in the back where pre-thinly-sliced ginger was sold!

Once I got back to the house the chopping and cooking began. I’m not going to lie, this soup took me hours (and I used up lots of pots and pans).

The broth was great – I actually cut down on the ginger since this can be very overbearing. And, the dried mushrooms gave a unique texture and taste to the dish. The only thing that was missing was a punch of spice! I omitted Sambal oelek since I don’t usually care for the stuff in Japanese restaurants, but looking back I should have added a little bit since it would have given the soup that extra flavor.

Bring broth and 3 cups water to simmer in large pot over medium heat. Add cilantro, mushrooms, sliced ginger, and lemongrass. Cover; simmer until mushrooms are tender, about 30 minutes. Rinse kombu/nori; add to broth. Simmer 1 minute. Using tongs, remove kombu/nori and mushrooms; discard kombu/nori. Transfer mushrooms to work surface; cut off stems and discard. Cut each mushroom into 3 to 4 strips. Strain broth through fine-mesh strainer into another large pot; discard solids in strainer. Add tamari and rice vinegar to broth. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill mushrooms. Cool, cover, and chill broth.

I think this was a useless step that quite frankly took too long. Yams should definitley be cooked in a pot seperately. But, you can get away with lightly stir-frying all the veggies in a pan/wok. At that time, you could also add in the water chesnuts and baby corn.